Crazy Cat Lady Diaries

So with our recent move we've had to find a new home for our sweet kitties Emmie and Gretel. My sister Melissa has graciously kitty-sit them for a couple of months now but as they are getting new carpet, Emmie and Gretel have had to start looking for another sweet sap to look after them.

Lo and behold we had a response to the ad we posted on KSL for these two. You won't believe the coorespondance this lady Diane and I have been having:

First Email:

First, I wanted you to know that I was completely enamored by the photos of the girls. They seemed to jump off the screen and say "we're here for YOU"! I have to be careful, though, because my kitty, Holly, died in June and I just haven't been able to adopt since then. I miss her too much. So I hope you don't mind if I start with a hoard of questions...

I'm assuming they're both females, right?
Are they littermates or did they just become good pals?
How old are they?
Do they have any health issues?
How long have you had them and where did you get them?
Are they overly-active, needing a lot of attention? I work from home (on the computer) and they made need to find a nice place nearby to rest for a while.
If I'm out from dawn to dusk, are they okay with being alone for that amount of time?
Do they share a litterbox or does each need her own?
Are they 100% indoor? I insist on this for their own safety.
Are they chipped (the internal ID tag)?
Do they shed greatly, leading to hairballs and internal problems?
Do they have a habit of scratching/damaging furniture?
Are either declawed, leaving them defenseless if they somehow get out, and keeping them from being able to jump onto a bed or couch?
Are they skiddish when meeting new people?
Do they answer to the names they have?
Why, specifically, did you choose to charge $10 for them, knowing it's not a lot of money, but enough to make sure they are being adopted for the right reasons?
Is there a reason that you've focused on the one kitty in your description of the two? Are you definitely looking to adopt them both?

As for me, I'm 51 years old, single, and work from my home as a part-time public relations writer (was my full-time job for 25+ years) and part-time kitty sitter.. I'm a supporter of both the ASPCA and Utah's no-kill shelters and No More Homeless Pets. I've had cats all my life, the last two being my wonderful Holly, who lived to be 18, and her pal, Misty (Mistletoe), who died three years ago at the age of 19.

I very much want two kitties who are either littermates or good buddies, like your photos show of your girls. I'm full of hugs and kisses, so I'd like kitties who wouldn't mind such snuggles, but I do need them to be independent enough to be one their own when I'm on the computer working or when I have to be out.

I'm sorry to ask so many questions. Getting over the loss of Holly has been very tough and I need this to be a good match. Please ask me as many questions as you want.

Many thanks for your help in acquainting me with your "babies"!

D.

Second Email:

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I am ready to meet the girls. I just can't stop thinking about them. I'm pretty much on a fixed income, so I wouldn't be able to make it out to Tooele or pay the $10 (which I would insist upon, if you didn't mention it) until my paydate: Wednesday, Jan. 13. And, as I mentioned, I would want to meet them first before making it happen. But they sound so wonderful!

I know you want to get them adopted as soon as possible, so can you please contact me if someone else calls about them and sounds serious so I can do whatever I can to make it out there earlier? I'm always online, so you can send me an email; but if you want to call, my number is _______. The recording is for "Furbaby Love," the name of my kitty-sitting business, just so you know you have the right number.

I'm nervous, but excited. I can't tell you how many friends and relatives have been getting on me to get another kitty. That's why I'm not telling anybody about these two until (if) I get them home!

Many thanks! Hope you have a great New Year's weekend!!

D.

This morning I told Alvin, "It's like Juno. Can't we just kick it old school, like moses and the reeds, and have a closed adoption?" We may try and take the "girls" (lol) to go see her. More to come...

Video Christmas Card

Christmas Spirit!

I work for a company called Horizon Financial. During the last few Christmas's they've selected a local charity to help, organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Utah Food Bank. This year was a little different. They decided to host an "Angel Tree" for the Head Start program in Salt Lake County.

I think management was a little weary about how well this would be received with everyone so financially strapped right now but the ornaments on our trees began to disappear quickly. The gifts started for these families began to roll in last Friday. It was remarkable to see how generous everyone had been.

On Tuesday my boss Sarah asked me to come help her get all the gifts sorted and organized and then help her take them down to Head Start. What a fun way to get into the Christmas spirit. Each child had a new warm coat, toys, and extra clothes.

I had picked a four year old little girl named Seidi. She needed some new clothes and she wanted a bike. Rosie and I had fun picking out a few little outfits, a pink bike with training wheels, and a play dough set.

Sarah and I had to take two vehicles to get all the items down to Head Start. After arriving there and unloading all the gifts her friend Becall took us to visit some of her students. The first classroom we went in a few little kids were playing, one of which was Seidi. This project took on a whole new meaning after seeing this darling little girl in person. Her long black hair in pig tails, bright brown eyes, and petite little self melted my heart.

I guess Seidi is part of a family of six children. Her mother had lost her job at the beginning of the school year and just barely got another. Her father is no longer in the picture due to drugs. How difficult it must be for Seidi's mother to work and take care of 6 children alone. We heard that when Seidi's mom found out they'd be getting some help for Christmas she burst into tears.

I'm glad to have been a part of this experience this year. It really helped me get into the Christmas spirit. It's my hope that come Christmas morning Seidi and her family will have a really special day. It's my prayer that other families in Seidi's situation will be taken care of as well. Merry Christmas!

Growing up Middle-aged

"You're listening to 97.9 - The Breeze - Cool Jazz"

Sometimes I come across funny memories and I just have to write them down. I had a different kind of adolescence. In an essence I was an "only child" because all of my siblings had moved out and begun families of their own. Being a teen while your parents are crossing middle age and don't have the worry of a big family means you'll watch a lot of Fox News, eat out regularly, and listen to a lot of "relaxing, cool, jazz" on 97.9 The Breeze. (Which is no longer on that station I might add, much to Dad's chagrin.)

There's only so much Enya a teen can take. What I found even more ridiculous was this station's DJ's. They would drop their voices down a few octaves, add a nice nasally tone over the top, and put a huge emphasis on the last syllable of their sentences. Maybe it's odd that I have this analyzed so much but you don't know how much I had to listen to The Breezzzee.

To pass time, amuse myself, and make fun of my parents for liking this station, I used to create pseudo DJ personalities for The Breeze. One of which I had named, Diane Magipinto. Diane was in her mid-forties, single, and very much stuck in 1986. She had big, backcombed, hair, leggings with stir-ups, and mad skills for the perfect "smooth jazz" radio voice. It was so good in fact that it border-lined a voice you'd imagine a 1-900 girl having.

Diane Magipinto segwayed into a new fun game that my mom and I would play. We'd come up with the most ridiculous last names possible for probable married names for me. One of the classics was Natalie Ann King Dillfinder. My mom teased me with that name right up until the day I married Alvin. Thank goodness the man I fell in love with had a solid last name, can't say much for his first name though... just kidding! It's all the more fun to yell, "AALLVVINNN!!"

Good times growing up with Bill and Connie. Love you guys!

Ode to the Fan

Like most King girls, I am dependent on the sweet lullaby of a fan to get me to sleep. The noise helps drown the loud thoughts in my head long enough to let me slip off to sleep. When Alvin and I got married this bugged him to death. Pure silence is what he preferred for his sleep setting.

Last night, probably out of sheer laziness, neither one of us would get up to turn on the fan. This is pretty ridiculous as it sits at the foot of our bed. Suffice it to say, my loud inner thoughts found their way out and had a party with Alvin's loud inner thoughts. At this point we're so ridiculously tired but egging each other on.

Needless to say, I did not get to sleep at a decent hour for getting up at 5:30 this morning. Now I sit in my office with the sound of my space heater teasing me. I'll have you know though, that Alvin admitted that he now can't sleep without the fan either. Success! Look what almost 4 years of marriage can do! :)

Epic GNO!

Last night was quite possibly the best girls night ever. Too bad I didn't have my camera on me. Lissa and I did it up right! After getting all dolled up we met and got dinner at The Broiler. Mmmm... Halibut and chowder. To keep us going I picked up four cans of Orange Full Throttle which made for random outbursts of "Yak!". After dinner we perused a few shops at the Gateway before they closed. Then it was on to the "Fangs or Fur" event at the Megaplex. Lissa put it so well when she chose to go for Team Jacob by purchasing tickets for the "Fur" theater; "Ya gotta root for the little guy" (Doesn't hurt that he's 1/2 naked through out the whole movie either.) We were loving all the different fans. There was a pre-teen in front of us that had painted a wolf nose and whiskers on her face. Another group of fans all had the same shirt on that said, "I swing both ways". Then came the goody bag. It was like trick or treat for crazy Twilight fans. We got a green re-usable bag with a t-shirt, pop corn, hot tamales, vitamin water, a 32 oz Jacob cup, fangs, truffle, license plate cover, and other misc promo items. The movie was crazy good, a ba-gillion times better than the previous. I love going to opening night shows with all the fans that actually applaud and cheer. Lissa is also a key ingredient for going to opening night movies, she makes it crazy fun with her emphasized pokes, hand squeezes and thwacks to my shoulder through out the whole thing. We both drove home in silence, her to Tooele and I to Kaysville, trying to take it all in. (lol) If this makes us big nerds so be it!

Notes... Who needs 'em?

You'll have to forgive all the silly memory postings I put on here, but this is the closest thing I have to a journal. (Won't my posterity lucky to read all about my crush on Robert Pattinson lol) Anyhow here is another such posting.

There are those moments right before bed that Alvin and I talk about the most ridiculous things. Last night it was "recorders". Did any of you have "recorder class" around 3rd or 4th grade? Well we did. I can remember getting my brown plastic recorder out of it's blue bag for the first time.

We joked about Alvin performing a solo on his recorder in an upcoming sacrament meeting. You may not know this about Alvin but he can play most anything he hears on the piano. This "playing by ear" translated to his recorder in his early years. Here's a direct quote from the master himself, "It's not a matter of learning it (the song), it's just there".

Man I thought my "Hot Cross Buns" was a trip. The coordination of keeping all five fingers doing something to produce an actual melody was a genuine accomplishment for me. Can you imagine my cocky husband at 8 or 9 yrs old... "Oh yeah, have you heard of Bach?" I'm in trouble when we have little Alvin's running around.